I'm Back!

What a nightmare! For weeks now I've been unable to sign in to my blog. It's been making me crazy! Apparently some sort of virus had attacked our access to google. Today Lincoln finally figured it out and got it cleared up. Excitedly, I hopped on the computer to finally access my blog and discovered I couldn't remember my username and password. So after more frustration and then a prayer, I finally remembered and here I am! Whew.

I've been working on lots of projects over the past month, and I really need to get them all organized and posted on here. I also have lots of projects planned for the coming month, so I should have plenty of blogging material to keep things fun around here.

To get things started, today I want to share a home tour I found via Pinterest, that has become my inspiration. Let's talk a little about Pinterest and how much I love it. Pinterest is an online inspiration board. Anything you find online that strikes your fancy you can "pin" to your Pinterest board. So if I see a picture of a kitchen I love, I click on it to pin it to my Pinterest board of choice. This is such a better option than saving everything in a million different folders on your computer, or, in my case, adding a million different websites to my favorites. But what I really love about this whole thing is that it has really helped me zero in on what I truly love- and want- in decorating. You see, there are lots of different styles that I find visually appealing. I see something online that I like but when I try to implement it in my own home it doesn't quite feel right. But with Pinterest, I find that the things I really truly love and that really move me, are the things I pin. Suddenly, I find myself with a bunch of boards that show a common theme. Finally, I can pinpoint (pun intended) the style that is truly what speaks to me. Turns out, it's vintage farmhouse. It feels so right to me, so comfortable, so perfect. So now I am on a mission to transform my home. The interesting thing is this: As I look around my house, I can see that I already have been working in that direction, just kind of blindly. First, I'll finally show you that home tour, then I'll take you around my own home to show you the things I already had in place that are part of this decorating style.

This farmhouse tour is from bhg.com.

Let's look at a couple images from the tour that really spoke to me.

First up, the kitchen. The red, white, and blue color scheme throughout the house is absolutely delightful. It is so cheery and bright. I have always loved this combination, but a lot of times Americana is deeper, darker reds and blues and becomes a bit oppressive. This plays up that same color theme and patriotic vibe without being overwrought. It just feels fresh to me with the crisp whites against the bright red. What speaks to me most from this image is the pendant light above the kitchen sink. Be watching for something similar in my home soon. I also love the glass jars with red and blue lids. I have a couple jars like this. I see spray paint in my future.


OK, next is this hallway. I love everything about this. The gingham walls, the screen door, the vintage quilts. You may remember me posting about dragging home the neighbors' screen door they removed from their porch. This is such a fun way to use a piece like that. I love that they are storing and displaying their quilts and linens at the same time. Gorgeous. I also love the rag rug. I have plans to make my own.


Wouldn't it be fun to wake up in this cheery bedroom? I love the bed linens. The mixture of patterns and textures is so comfy and inviting. The lampshade may be an upcoming project for me. Also, I fully intend to introduce some roosters to my decor. The trick is to keep them from looking kitschy. I've been working on a little guy I found recently at Goodwill. The other big inspiration in this photo is the planked walls. I have been dreaming of planked walls for a loooong time now. I think I need to make them a reality in my home.


This entry to the bathroom is so fun! I have already begun making my own outhouse door wallhanging. Some time ago I salvaged a bunch of barnboards from my cousin's shed when she tore it down. Some of it has been used for this project. Also in this picture- the enamelware holding the towels. I LOVE enamelware and had just recently begun collecting it.

I. Am. In. Love. With. This. Couch. Finally I know exactly what I want to do with the sofa I bought for recovering. I have found the fabric I will use and I'm ready to order it. My Mom will be coming for a visit in April and she is packing her upholstery tools. I am soooo excited about this I can't even begin to tell you. The picture in my mind is absolutely gorgeous.

My house is not exactly ready for a photo shoot, but here are a few things that have found their way into my decor and will probably be getting a much more prominent spot in the near future.
First up is a treasure of mine.


This is my great-grandmother's bread pail. I love this piece so very much. And yes, I have mixed bread dough in it.


In this picture is a kitchen scale I got at a barn sale, my little red rooster, and a big, beautiful enamelware pitcher.


This is a little peek in my china hutch. This houses my ironstone collection, as well as a mixture of other white pieces.



These cute little signs are from Walmart, but their farmhouse appeal spoke to me.


And lastly, a big project I recently completed: Beadboard backsplash in my kitchen. Looks great with Mason jars, does it not?

I have lots of big plans for the coming weeks. Check back often. It's great to be back!

Piston Cup Party

I really had good intentions to blog more this year...

Things have been really busy around here, but I'm not complaining. If January is busy it goes by faster. That's fine by me. It also helps that the weather has been unseasonably warm. We had one short cold snap in January that really didn't amount to much. Now we are in the midst of a "heat wave" with temps consistently above freezing during the day. Basically it's sugaring weather the first week in February.

Speaking of the first week of February, my baby just turned five on Feb. 1st. I can hardly believe it. No more babies or toddlers or preschoolers here. It seems like such a short time ago that I thought I would never have all my kids out of diapers.

We let our kids have a friend birthday party on their 5th, 8th, 12th, and 16th birthdays, so this was a party year for Jesse. He requested a Piston Cup (from the movie Cars)cake.


I decided to try sculpting the Piston Cup out of rice krispie treats. It didn't turn out so hot, BUT I know what to do differently next time so it WILL work. The rice krispie treats really need to be made further in advance. They need time to really dry out and harden. Because I didn't realize this, they were kind of droopy. It also made it difficult to work with them for creating detail work. If they were hard I could have carved better detail into them. I will definitely do this again.


I didn't get any good pictures of the decorations, but I used black, white, red, and checkered flags for the decor. I found some fun black and white checked streamers and napkins. I made a bunch of black and white and red pompoms. Jesse told me that even though pompoms are kind of girly, we could use them for his party. I think in the masculine colors and mixed with the checkered flags it works for a boy. Every kids birthday party needs balloons, in my opinion, so I got black, red, and white with checkered flags.


(I took these as an afterthought last night after the balloons had been taken down.)
In keeping with the race theme of the party, I picked up some boxes at the grocery store and let the kids decorate them to use as race cars. The kids stepped inside them, held them up, and ran and ran and ran.


They had a blast! I thought it was an interesting informal study on the differences between boys and girls. The boys were not very detail oriented. They spent about 2.6 seconds crafting and they were already hot and sweaty from racing before the girls had even completed their cars.

(The boys are those blurry spots in the background.)
The girls colored pictures on the cars, carefully placed stickers, arranged streamers in the most aesthetically pleasing manner. It was pretty funny. By the time the girls were ready to race, the boys were worn out!

Jesse had a great time. There was a lot of running and screaming and organized chaos. I'm still recovering.